On-call firefighter retires after 36 years

Yesterday (Tuesday 8 October), the Service bid farewell to on-call firefighter and Watch Manager Michael Riley who has retired after 36 years.

After giving over 228,000 hours on-call at Longnor Community Fire Station, Mick has decided to hang up his boots and enjoy retirement. He was presented with a mounted axe and a certificate of service by Deputy Chief Fire Officer Glynn Luznyj, who joined Mick, his family and colleagues at a celebratory presentation last night.

Mick joined Longnor Community Fire Station on 15 August 1988 and has since dedicated a lot of his time to serving and protecting our communities. He said: “It all started when I saw a local chap I knew going to the fire station and became curious, so I enquired, met what were then called Sub Officers and joined.”

“Initially, I did my training a Newcastle Fire Station and I remember as part of the tests I had to climb a ladder, stand on at the top of the drill tower and shout down my name and address.”

Mick added: “I remember the uniform back then consisted of plastic yellow leggings, cotton tunic and cork helmet. And to book on and off, so when you were available and when you weren’t, you had to do this manually on a piece of paper at the stations.”

When Mick wasn’t on-call he is self-employed classic cars restorer but managed to find time being on-call in between his family life and primary employment.

Throughout his time as an on-call firefighter, Mick has seen a lot of changes and faced a few challenges. He said: “Being an on-call firefighter at Longnor has it’s challenges due to it’s location, but the best part about being a firefighter for me was helping people when they need it most - it is our job and our duty to help those when they need us.”

If you, like Mick, want to help those in your community, you can become an on-call firefighter as the Service is recruiting.

For more information and to apply, visit our website: https://www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk/careers/on-call-firefighters/